5 things to know as 5 Indy-area schools vie for IHSAA soccer state finals this weekend

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The Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter Raiders celebrate their 1-0 victory over the Washington Hatchets in the IHSAA Class 2A semistate match at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Raiders stunned the Hatchets by scoring a goal with 21 seconds left on the game clock. SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS

The Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter Raiders celebrate their 1-0 victory over the Washington Hatchets in the IHSAA Class 2A semistate match at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Raiders stunned the Hatchets by scoring a goal with 21 seconds left on the game clock. SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS

The Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter Raiders celebrate their 1-0 victory over the Washington Hatchets in the IHSAA Class 2A semistate match at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Raiders stunned the Hatchets by scoring a goal with 21 seconds left on the game clock. SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS

The Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter Raiders celebrate their 1-0 victory over the Washington Hatchets in the IHSAA Class 2A semistate match at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Raiders stunned the Hatchets by scoring a goal with 21 seconds left on the game clock. SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS

The Carmel Greyhounds celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Center Grove Trojans at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Carmel Greyhounds celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Center Grove Trojans at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Carmel Greyhounds celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Center Grove Trojans at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Carmel Greyhounds celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Center Grove Trojans at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Carmel Greyhounds celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Center Grove Trojans at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Zionsville Eagles pose with their semistate plaque after winning the IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Bloomington South Panthers at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Zionsville Eagles celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Bloomington South Panthers at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Zionsville Eagles celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Bloomington South Panthers at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Zionsville Eagles celebrate during their IHSAA 3A semistate soccer match against the Bloomington South Panthers at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar

The Mater Dei Wildcats take on the Park Tudor Lady Panthers during an IHSAA Class 1A semistate match at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Wildcats defeated the Lady Panthers, 2-0, and will be competing in the Class 1A state championship next weekend. SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS

Mater Dei’s Anna Bury (10) holds up the semistate champions plaque as she celebrates a 2-0 victory with her team in the IHSAA Class 1A semistate match against the Park Tudor Panthers at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Wildcats will be competing against Wheeler in the Class 1A state championship next weekend. SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS

The IHSAA soccer state finals are this weekend, with games taking place Friday and Saturday at IUPUI's Carroll Stadium. There are five local teams vying for titles. Here are five things to watch.

Carmel girls looking to reclaim title of state’s best

Carmel girls soccer coach Frank Dixon predicted this.

Even with all of the talent in the Indianapolis area, he thought his team would be the last one standing when it mattered most.

“We lost talent, but we have a ton of it there pushing to come up the ranks,” Dixon said before the season began. “I think locally we’ll be the top team by the end of the year.”

And here they are.

The Greyhounds haven’t allowed a goal in their past nine games, and have allowed just four all season. And not many balls even get near the Carmel net. Goalkeeper Erin Baker has 17 shutouts on the season and 46 saves. Offensively, Carmel is paced by Kelsie James (nine goals) while Emma Antoine and Emily Roper have seven each.

Carmel will take on Homestead in the finals, looking for its first state title since 2011. This is the Greyhounds' first appearance in the state championship game since 2014.

Zionsville entered season looking for revenge, and has its shot

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Zionsville forward Jack Seamands (10) and the Eagles will play for the Class 3A title Saturday night.(Photo: Bobby Goddin/For IndyStar)

After being ranked No. 1 last season and falling in the sectional opener, Zionsivlle's boys team was determined to make a deep run this year. And the Eagles have done just that. They'll take on Chesterton in the 3A championship game Saturday.

The Eagles have a balanced offensive attack, scoring 54 goals on the season while allowing only seven. Ben Weidner leads the offense with 12 goals and 12 assists. Goalkeeper Sam Allen has 37 saves and 14 shutouts. The team’s only loss came to Hamilton Southeastern.

This is the team’s first trip to the finals since it made consecutive appearances in 2008 and 2009, hoisting the trophy in '09.

Cathedral girls ride momentum to finals

The Cathedral Fighting Irish celebrate a goal against the Memorial Tigers in the first half of the IHSAA Class 2A semistate match at Bundrant Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. The Tigers fell 1-0 to the Fighting Irish.(Photo: SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS)

The Irish didn’t start the season particularly strong, with a record of 3-3-3. But since then, they’ve won nine of their 11 matches, including seven straight heading into their state finals appearance against South Bend St. Joseph. The Irish have outscored opponents 10-2 during their tournament run. They are making their first state finals appearance since they won the title in 2009.

Caroline Cline leads the team with seven goals, while Jennifer Utzinger has six.

“This is a special group,” Cathedral coach Marc Behringer said after last week's semistate win over defending champ Evansville Memorial. “They have been outstanding all year long. They really showed their heart and their guts.”

Cardinal Ritter offense firing on all cylinders heading into title game

The Raiders boys team have plenty of offensive weapons at their disposal heading into the finals against Bishop Noll. Andy Bonilla leads the team with 15 goals while Ryan and Aaron Hofer have scored 11 each. Goalkeeper Hayden Grider has 98 saves and seven shutouts on the season. Cardinal Ritter has four shutouts during its tournament run, outscoring opponents 15-2. This will mark the Raiders’ second finals appearance in four years. They were the Class A runner-up in 2016.

Second time a charm for Covenant?

Covenant Christian's boys team is no strangers to the state finals. The Warriors made it to the championship game twice in recent years (2013 and last season). But both times, they’ve come up short of a title. Having returned most of their talent from last season, they expected to make another deep run.

“Most of these guys have the expectation that we’re going to go back and take care of unfinished business,” Warriors coach David Pfeifer said before the season began.

After a 1-4 start to the season, it looked doubtful Covenant would make a return trip to the finals. But it has won eight straight games, including seven shutouts, entering Friday's matchup with Fort Wayne Canterbury. Maclain Hastings leads the team with 11 goals and goalkeeper Jacob Susud has 54 saves and nine shutouts on the season.

This will mark the second straight year these two teams have met in the finals. Canterbury won last year’s matchup 2-1.